Control valve assembly



United States Patent [72] Inventor Delbert E. Esche ABSTRACT: The valve assembly has application for use in the Westland, Michigan control of vehicle vacuum door locks, headlamp shutters and [2 PP 757,348 other utilization devices that require in their operation al- [22] Filed p 1968 ternate applications of sub-atmospheric and atmospheric pres- Patented g- 1970 sures. A valve housing is formed with a pair of adjacent cham- Assignee f f lf bers that are separated by a dividing wall that has a transverse Dem)", Mlchlgan passage therethrough connectible intermediate its ends with a a corporation Maine source of sub-atmospheric pressure. Each sidewall of the chamber opposite the dividing wall has a transverse passage that is open to the atmosphere, is substantially equal in diameter to the sub-atmospheric passage and is arranged in coaxial [54] CONTROL VALVE ASSEMBLY alignment with the sub-atmospheric passage. Each chamber 8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs. additionally is fluid connected with the utilization device that is to be controlled. An operating rod extends in a spaced rela- [52] US. Cl tion through a" of the p g and is mounted at one end on [51] Int. Cl ..Fl6k 31/06, F Plunger of a Solenoid unit carfied on the hous' Fl6k 11/04 mg. Mounted on the rod in coaxial ahgnment therewith and 50 Field of Search ..137/625.25, 9 in each chamber is a rubber '7 member cylin- 62521625671625, 62555 59616 596, drical shape Each end of the body portion ofa valve member 59617, 6255 62543; 251/333 334 is formed with an annular seating section that has a diameter greater than the diameter of the transverse passages and is [56] References i d spaced axially outwardly from the body portion within the UNITED STATES PATENTS transverse confines thereof. Each seating section is connected 137/625 5X to the body portion by an annular neck port1on that extends L19 1 ,748 7/19) Van valkefiberg axially of the body portion so that a seating section is yieldably 2,366,127 12 1944 Rappl 137/635.43X movable axially of the body portion The outer Side Surface of 2372311 3/1945 Brow? 137/ a seating section is reversely tapered to form an annular apex 2'784732 3/1957 Murklewlczm 25 1/333} portion that points toward an adjacent side wall of a chamber 2,812,776 1 1/1957 L9fftus et al l37/625'7 means. On movement of the operating rod to either one of two 2/1963 Tlsphler et 7 25 1/333 positions in response to the actuation of the solenoid unit the 3,134,391 5/1964 Feibush -51/333x Valve members are moved to corresponding positions provid Primary Examiner- M. Cary Nelson ing for a sub-atmospheric pressure in one chamber concur- Assistant Examiner- Robert J. Miller rently with the venting to the atmosphere of the other Altorney- Rudolph L. Lowell chamber.

/0 4 7 /Z 4/ /5 a j T 12 33 i 44 67a :3 27 Q2 I I rfgg 6/ 9 l L 'F- 44 5? a F 4 a a u .4; {A l/ g [Use 1 i '1' I a x l4 5 33 47 S 2 I 3/ 35 I W Patented Aug. 25, 1970 VE/YTO/P. DEL BERT E. EscHE A TTORNEK CONTROL VALVE ASSEMBLY SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The control valve assembly is of a simple and economical construction, efficient in operation and comprised of readily assembled parts that do not require close assembly tolerances or precision finished bearing and seating surfaces. The rubber valve members are mounted on the operating rod in coaxial alignment therewith and the rod is mounted only on one end to its actuating solenoid unit and is then loosely extended through the assembly passages to be controlled. The annular seating sections at the ends of the valve members are integral with and supported on a valve member so as to be yieldably engageable with corresponding adjacent chamber sidewalls in a circling relation with corresponding passages. By virtue of the reversely tapered construction of that portion of a seating section which contacts a chamber sidewall a positive seating and resultant fluid sealing action takes place without requiring precision finished contact surfaces on either the seating section or the chamber sidewalls. The flexible support of a seating section in conjunction with the reversely tapered construction of its chamber wall contacting portion, accommodates lateral movement of the operating rod relative to the passages while retaining a positive sealing action. Additionally, the resilient support of seating sections on the valve members utilizes the sub-atmospheric and atmospheric pressures applied to the chambers to both initiate and then maintain the passage sealing functions of the valve members.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the control valve assembly of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitundinal sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3, 4 and are sectional detail views as seen along the lines 33, 44, and 55, respectively, in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing the control valve assembly of this invention, indicated generally as 10, is illustrated as having a housing unit 11 comprised of a housing section 12 for a pair of like valve members 13 and 14 and a housing section 15 for a solenoid unit 16.

The housing section 12 is of a generally box shape divided by a center transversely extended partition wall 17 so as to form a pair of equal size compartments that are closed at their upper ends by a cover member 18 to provide a pair of side by side fluid chambers 19 and 21. Stated otherwise the partition wall 17 is common to and constitutes the inner side walls of the chambers 19 and 21.

The outer side wall 22 of the chamber 19 is formed with a centrally located outwardly projected annular passage means 23 that opens the chamber 19 to the atmosphere. The lower or base wall 24 of the chamber 19 has a port 26 that is connectible with a utilization device (not shown) the operation of which is controlled by the valve assembly 10. The chamber 21 has its outer wall 27 formed with a transverse atmospheric venting passage 28. A port 29 (FIGS. 1 and 5) in the bottom wall 31 is connectible with the utilization device.

Integral with the housing section 12 and projected outwardly from the outer wall 27 in a concentrically spaced relation about the venting passage 28 is a tubular mounting sleeve 32 (FIGS. 2 and 4). An annular flange 33 formed on the sleeve 32 adjacent the wall 27 terminates in the peripherally extended hook or clip portion 34. A bleed hole 35 in the sleeve 32 at a position adjacent the outer wall 27 of the chamber 21 opens the passage 28 to the atmosphere.

The partition wall 17 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is formed therein with an upright passage means 36 having an outer end 37 connectible with a source of sub-atmospheric pressure (not shown) such as the intake manifold of a vehicle engine. A transverse passage 38 in the partition wall 17 opens the upper end of the upright passage 36 to the chambers 19 and 21. As best appears in FIG. 2 the transverse passages 23 and 28 in the outer walls 22 and 27 of the chambers 19 and 21, respectively, and the transverse passage 38 in the dividing wall 17 have substantially equal cross sectional areas and are arranged in axial alignment longitudinally ofthe housing section 12.

The housing section 15 is ofa generally cup shape having an annular rim portion 41 (FIG. 2) that is flared outwardly for reception and secured engagement within the hook shaped annular portion 34 of the housing section 12. Mounted within the housing section 15 is the solenoid unit 16 which includes a usual spool 42 and coil winding 43 having terminal connections 44 projected outwardly from the base wall 46 of the housing section 15 for connection with a source of electrical energy such as the usual vehicle battery (not shown). The inner end of the spool 42 is formed with an annular tubular projection 47 that telescopically receives that portion of the mounting sleeve 32 on the housing section 12 located outwardly from the annular flange 33. The bore 48 of the spool 42 is thus positioned in coaxial alignment with the passages 23, 38 and 28 in the housing section 12.

Arranged within the spool bore 48 is a solenoid plunger 49 that is movable toward the right, as viewed in FIG. 2, or in a direction inwardly of the bore 48, on energization of the solenoid unit 16. The plunger 49 is yieldably biased in an opposite direction by a coil spring 51 that is located in the bore 48 and maintained under compression between the inner end of the plunger 49 and a centering member 52 that is carried on the base wall 46 of the housing section 15.

An operating rod 53 in coaxial alignment with the plunger 49 has one end 54 mounted within the plunger 49. From its supported end 54 the rod 53 extends coaxially through the transverse passages 28 and 38 of the housing section 12 in a concentrically spaced relation with the side walls thereof. The opposite or free end 56 of the operating rod 53 is located within the passage 23. The valve members 13 and 14 are coaxially mounted on the operating rod 53, with the valve member 13 located in the chamber 19 and the valve member 14 located in the chamber 21. Since each of the valve members 13 and 14 are of a like construction and similarly associated with corresponding passages in the housing section 12, only the valve member 14 will be described in detail with like numbers with a suffix a being applied to the like parts of valve member 13.

The valve member 14 is of a rubber composition and of a cylindrical shape and includes a main body 57 integrally formed at its ends with annular wall seating sections 58 and 59 (FIG. 2). The seating section 58 for the vent passage 28 is of a substantially triangular shape in transverse cross section with the apex 61 thereof facing the side wall 27 of the chamber 21. The seating section 58 is of a greater diameter than the venting passage 28 so that when moved to its dotted line position, shown in FIG. 2, by the operating rod 53 the apex 61 is engageable with the chamber side wall 27 in a concentrically spaced relation about the vent passage 28.

The seating section 58 is connected with the main body 57 by a flexible annular neck member 62 that has an axial portion '63 continuous with the peripheral portion of the main body 57 and projected outwardly from the end face 64 of the main body. A radially extended portion 65 is spaced outwardly from the end face 64 for connecting the seat section 58 with the axial portion 63. The neck member 62 thus forms with the end face 64 an annular groove 66. As a result, the seat section 58 is yieldably movable in an axial direction toward and away from the end face 64 of the main body 57.

The seating section 59 is also of a substantially triangular shape in transverse cross section with its apex 67 facing the partition wall 17. A neck member 68 for yieldably connecting the seating section 59 with the main body 57 is formed by an annular groove 69 formed in the peripheral surface of the main body 57 at a position adjacent its end face 71.

It is seen, therefore, that both of the seating sections 58 and 59 are located within the transverse confines of the main body 57, project axially outwardly from the end faces thereof and are yieldably supported on their respective neck members 62 and 68 for axial movement relative to the body member 57 into and out of engagement with corresponding side walls of the chamber 21. For a purpose that will appear later, the neck member 62 for the seating section 58 is of a longer radial length and of a reduced cross sectional area relative to the neck member 68 for the seating section 59.

As shown in FIG. 2 the seating section 580 of the valve member 13 is in a closing relation with the vent passage 23 while the seating section 59 of the valve member 14 is in a closing position relative to the sub-atmospheric passage 38. As a result the chamber 19, and in turn the port 26, are subjected to a vacuum or sub-atmospheric pressure, while the chamber 21 is vented to the atmosphere through passage 28 and bleed hole 35. These positions of the valve members 13 and 14 correspond to a de-energized condition of the solenoid unit 16 and the movement of the operating rod 53 to one moved position therefor by the action of the plunger spring 51.

On energization of the solenoid unit 16, the operating rod 53 is moved to a second position therefor to provide for a corresponding movement of the valve members 13 and 14 to their dotted line positions shown in FIG. 2. In such dotted line positions, it is seen that the seating section 59a of the valve member 13 is in a closed position relative to the vacuum passage 38 while the valve section 58a is in an open position relative to the vent passage 23. Likewise, the seating section 58 of the valve member 14 closes the chamber 21 relative to the vent passage 28, and opens the chamber 21 to the vacuum passage 38. Thus on movement of the operating rod 53 to one or the other of two positions therefor the valve members 13 and 14 are correspondingly moved to positions providing for one or the other of the chambers 19 and 21 being subjected to atmospheric pressure concurrently with the subjecting of the other chamber to a sub-atmospheric pressure. During this passage control action of the valve members 13 and 14 to vary the pressures in the chambers 19 and 21 the variation in such pressures is utilized to complement the passsage sealing action of the seating sections 58, 58a and 59 and 59a. Thus, with the valve members 13 and 14 in their full line positions of FIG. 2 the passage 23 is closed by the seat 58a of the valve member 13 and the passage 38 is closed by the seat 59 of the valve member 14.

Relative to the seating section 58a of the valve member 13 the neck member 62a has a sub-atmospheric pressure applied to its outer surface and an atmospheric pressure applied to its inner surface, and with these two pressures acting in a complementary relation to firmly maintain the seat 58a against the wall 22 of the chamber 19. Likewise, the neck member 68 for the seating section 59 of the valve member 14 has a sub-atmospheric pressure applied to one side surface and an at mospheric pressure applied to the opposite side surface thereof such that both of these pressures act to urge the seat 59 against the side wall 17 of the chamber 21. This complementary action of the atmospheric and sub-atmospheric pressures on the neck members 62a and 68 tends to move the operating rod 53 toward the left, as viewed in FIG. 2. Such tendency is complemented by the action of the solenoid spring 51 so as to yieldably urge and maintain the seating section 58a of the valve member 13 in sealing engagement with the side wall 22 of the chamber 19 and the seating section 59 of the valve member 14 in sealing engagement with the side wall 17.

On energization of the solenoid unit 16 to reverse the pressures in the chambers 19 and 21 the operating rod 53 is moved toward the right, as viewed in FIG. 2, to in turn move the valve members 13 and 14 to their dotted line positions. During this movement of the rod 53, the seating section 58a tends to remain in a seated relation with the chamber wall 22 due to the flexibility of the neck member 68a and the reverse pressures acting thereon. As the seating section 59a of the valve member 13 approaches the side wall 17 the sub-atmospheric pressure from passage 38 tends to draw or pull the seating section 59a against the side wall 17. As a result, on the breaking of the seating section 58a from the side wall 22 the seating section 59a is at the side wall 17 so that the passage 38 is closed to the chamber 19 immediately prior to or at the same time that the chamber 19 is opened to the atmosphere at the passage 23.

A pressure reversal in the chamber 19 thus takes place without any substantial increase or loss of the sub-atmospheric pressure in the passage 38.

As to the valve member 14, during its movement from a full line position to a dotted line position therefor, the seating section 59 tends to remain seated as the seating section 58 ap proaches the side wall 27 of the chamber 21. However, when the seating section 59 is unseated the opening of the chamber 21 to the sub-atmospheric passage 38 provides for the application of the sub-atmospheric pressure to the outside surface of neck member 58. This pressure in conjunction with the atmospheric pressure being applied on the inside surface of the neck member 58 draws the seating section 58 toward and into seating engagement with the wall 27 of the chamber 21 so as to close the vent passage 28. Thus, the pressure in the chamber 21 is quickly reversed in a minimum of time and the seating sections 58 and 59 are firmly seated with the chamber walls 17 and 27, respectively, by the complementary action of the reversed pressure applied on their corresponding neck members 62 and 68 and the force applied to the rod 53 by the solenoid unit 16.

By virtue of the flexible support of the seating sections 58 and 58a and 59 and 59a for yieldable movement axially of their corresponding valve bodies 57 and 57a and the seating engagement of their peripheral apex portions with associated chamber walls, the sealing engagement takes place over such apex portions. Thus, in becoming seated, a seating section 58 and 59 is permitted to roll on the apex portion thereof to accommodate any small lateral movements of the operating rod 53 that might occur during its axial movement, and any slight irregularities in the unfinished surfaces of the chamber side walls. As a result the valve assembly 10 can be economically manufactured without requiring close working tolerances in its assembly, and is efficient in operation to provide a positive seating of the valve members 13 and 14 with their associated fluid passages to alternately reverse the pressures in the chambers 19 and 21 in a minimum of time and with no appreciable increase in the sub-atmospheric pressures that are admitted to the chambers 19 and 21.

Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof it is not to be so limited since changes and modifications can be made therein which are within the full intended scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A valve assembly comprising:

a. a valve housing having controlled passages therein;

b. a plurality of valve members for controlling said passages;

c. a common operating rod for said valve members for moving said valve members to either of two positions;

d. each of said valve members being composed of a resilient material and including a cylindrically shaped body member integrally formed at each end thereof with an annular seating section projected longitudinally outwardly from the adjacent end of a corresponding body member; an annular neck member yieldably connecting each seating section to an adjacent end of a corresponding body member;

f. each annular seating section being of a generally triangular shape in transverse cross section with the apex portion thereof remote from a corresponding neck member;

g. a solenoid unit on said valve housing member having a plunger coaxial with and connected to said operating rod to move said valve members to one of said positions in response to energization of said solenoid unit; and

h. yieldable means for moving said rod to move said valve members to the second one of said positions when said solenoid unit is deenergized.

2. The valve assembly according to claim 1 wherein:

a. said valve housing includes a pair of chamber means having a dividing wall therebetween each chamber means having a side wall opposite said dividing wall;

b. said controlled passages include a transverse passage in said dividing wall open to said chamber means and connectible to a source of sub-atmospheric pressure, and a transverse vent passage in each of said side walls open to the atmosphere, said transverse passage and vent passages arranged in coaxial alignment and said operating rod being extended through said passages in a concentrically spaced relation with the passage side walls;

or a valve member in each of said chamber means mounted on said rod;

d. with each of said seating sections having a diameter greater than the diameter of said transverse and vent passages so as to be engageable with the wall surface adjacent a corresponding one of said passages; and

e. said valve members being spaced on said operating rod so that in either one of said two positions therefor one of said chamber means is vented to the atmosphere and closed to said source of sub-atmospheric pressure and the other of said chambers is open to said source of sub-atmospheric pressure and closed to the atmosphere.

3. The valve assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein:

a. the neck members corresponding to the seating sections adjacent the vent passages are of a length greater than the length of the neck members corresponding to the seating sections adjacent said transverse passage.

4. A valve assembly including:

a. a valve housing having a chamber means with a pair of opposite side walls, each of which has a transverse passage formed therein, said passages arranged in coaxial alignment;

b. an operating rod mounted in said housing and extended through said passages in a concentrically spaced relation with the side walls thereof;

c. a valve member within said chamber means including a resilient body member of a cylindrical shape mounted coaxially on said operating rod:

d. a passage sealing means formed at each end of said body member including an annular seating section of a triangular shape in transverse cross section projected axially outwardly from the body member with the apex side thereof facing an adjacent one of said side walls;

e. a neck member connecting each seating section with said body member to provide for a yieldable axial movement of a seating section toward and away from an adjacent end of said body member; and means for axially reciprocating said operating rod to move said valve member to either of two positions therefor;

. each seating section having a diameter greater than the diameter of a transverse passage so that when the valve member is moved to either one of said two positions a seating section at one of the ends of said body member is in seating engagement with an annular portion of the surface of the side wall concentrically spaced about the transverse passage therein.

The valve assembly according to claim 4 wherein:

. said annular surface portion of a side wall lies in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the apex side of an adjacent seating section.

6. The valve assembly according to claim 5 wherein:

a. one of said transverse passages is connectable to a source of sub-atmospheric pressure and the other of said transverse passages is vented to the atmosphere.

7. The valve assembly according to claim 6 wherein:

a. the neck member for the seating section adjacent said other transverse passage is of a greater length and reduced cross sectional area relative to the neck member for the seating section adjacent said one transverse passage.

8. The valve assembly accordin to claim 7 wherein: a. the passages in said sidewa ls have substantially equal diameters and the diameter of the annular seating section adjacent said one transverse passage is of a greater diameter than the diameter of the annular seating section adjacent said other transverse passage. 

